Boomershoot with a Handgun

I’ve posted here, here and here about shooting long-range targets with a specialty pistol. I intend to put myself to the test next Spring by trying to connect on some boomers at Boomershoot. I mentioned before that there are some difficulties with this plan related to the fact that I am a resident of California.

In particular, it’s illegal.

Now, I’m not talking about the Federal law that prohibits taking a T/C Encore rifle (such as my “walk-around” .308 carbine* I used for Boomerhunting this year)

* Yes, that’s a legal rifle-length barrel on the carbine, and it’s still legal length even with the muzzle brake removed.

…and swapping out the stock for a pistol grip to turn your rifle into a handgun, such as the lovely specimen pictured above. That’s a Federal no-no.

However, it’s one that is widely ignored by most T/C owners of my acquaintance, since the only way to tell whether or not your handgun started out that way is to look at the T/C factory records, which will tell you that this receiver started life as a pistol, and that one started out as a rifle or shotgun. Ya can’t lawfully plop a pistol-length barrel and grips on a rifle or shotgun receiver, but lots of folks seem to do it anyway. Not me, of course!

(And no, the pictured pistol is not mine; it belongs to the founder of the Specialty Pistols site — it’s used in the logo.)

Anyway, that’s not my problem. My problem is that California enacted its stupid handgun safety test law, which requires that each different handgun in a manufacturer’s lineup must be tested and certified as safe before it can be lawfully sold in Cali. Each different barrel length/chambering counts as a different gun under the law, with the result that switchbarrel handgun manufacturers such as T/C pretty much stopped selling in California. Encore and Contender handgun frames imported into California prior to the law taking effect were “grandfathered,” and are legal to sell. Of course, they sell at a premium. On EABCO, a California-illegal Encore frame lists for $276; a recent California-legal Encore handgun in .22LR sold in San Diego for almost $800!

That’s my problem. I want to buy a brand-new Encore pistol receiver at a rational price, and up ’til now it’s been against the law.

Happily, Gov. Arnold just signed a bill that specifically exempts T/C-type single-shot handguns from the safety testing rubric. It was sponsored by Sen. Dutton, who’s certainly getting a contribution from me, even though I’m not one of his constituents!

So, here’s what I have so far:

Three barrels, including a fluted Virgin Valley barrel in .223, and a 15″ ported Bullberry barrel in .308 (above, flanking the carbine). One Bower rest. Pistol grips and forend.

And on January 1st, 2006, when the new law takes effect, I’ll be lawfully ordering a shiny new Encore handgun frame. Until then, I’ll only admit to having practiced with an Encore handgun in the confines of the imaginary range between my ears….